Funder policies

Research funding organizations play a vital role in advancing science and academia, providing essential support for conducting research across a wide range of disciplines. These organizations are increasingly driving the shift toward open access by requiring grant recipients to make their research findings freely available.  

Many funders have implemented clear guidelines to ensure compliance and offer financial support for open access publication costs. For researchers affiliated with Dutch universities, the most relevant funding bodies are part of cOAlition S, which aims to accelerate the transition to full open access for scholarly publications.  

In 2018, cOAlition S launched Plan S, a policy that requires researchers funded by these bodies to publish all their work open access with a Creative Commons License. The policy prohibits using grant funds for Article Processing Charges (APCs) in hybrid journals—those that charge both subscription fees and APCs. Instead, grants can only cover APCs for fully open access journals that are transparent about their fees. 

These are the most important funding bodies for researchers affiliated with Dutch universities:

• Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO): NWO follows Plan S and mandates open access for all publicly funded research (NWO Open Access Policy).
• ZonMw: As part of its commitment to open access, ZonMw, a key funding agency for health research in the Netherlands, also requires open access publication for all its funded projects (ZonMw Open Access Policy). 
• Horizon Europe: As the successor to Horizon 2020, Horizon Europe follows Plan S principles and requires open access for publications resulting from EU funding. (Horizon Europe Open Access Policy).

• Mandatory Open Access for Research Articles: All peer-reviewed articles resulting from research funded by cOAlition S funders, either the published version (‘Version of Record’) or the author's final manuscript as accepted by the journal (‘Author Accepted Manuscript') must be made freely available in open access with a Creative Commons License.
   
• No funds for APCs in Hybrid Journals: cOAlition S does not allow researchers to use grant funds to submit articles to hybrid journals (journals that offer both open access and subscription-based content). They do, however, fund APCs in fully open access journals. 
   
• Publishing Books Open Access: cOalitionS recommends that all academic books based on original research that was directly supported with funding from cOAlition S organizations should be made available open access on publication. This is however not a mandate, and each funder is free to adopt their own policy for books and book chapters. For instance, NWO has an Open Access book policy set at 12 months. The European Commission, conversely, has a stricter policy that mandates all books and book chapters to be Open Access without embargo. Most cOAlition S funders have dedicated funds (e.g. NWO Book Fund) to cover Book Processing Charges (BPCs). 
   
• Data and Open Science: cOAlition S also supports open science practices, including the open sharing of research data, ensuring that all aspects of research are accessible and reusable by others.